1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing apparatuses and methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method has been known in which image processing is performed separately on a character part and a picture part in edited image data or optically scanned image data.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/002739 discloses encoding continuous gray scale data and bi-level data by means of a computer, transferring them to an ink-jet printer, decoding them in the printer, then half-toning the continuous gray scale data to acquire bi-level color data in the printer, synthesizing the bi-level data and the bi-level color data to acquire print data and printing the data.
Edited image data or optically scanned image data may include a picture, picture image data and character image data. Ink color conversion is not performed on continuous gray scale data of character image data. However, the method disclosed in the Description of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2009/002739 does not provide a proper amount of ink for some types of printing media, resulting in undesirable image quality of printed matters. Furthermore, applying a same correction process on image data and character data is not always appropriate to correct image data in consideration of manufacturing variations of print heads.